News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-12-22
TRUCKING A TRAVELLER.
How Two Drummers With Resources
Got a Bed in a Frontier Town.
from the Omaha Bee.


from the Omaha Bee.l
Nick Snowman always has good story
to tell. A representative of the Bee
found him at the Millard resting from
his labors, and this is the tale he I'M
folded:
You know Charley W? Well,
Charley and [ were snowed-in up on the
Broken Bow line last winter. The train
just managed to make little station
along about dark, and we tied up there
for the night. There was light load
on, but every mothers son and one
daughter of them piled out and made
for the only hotel in the place. W
course; Charley and [ had to help the
daughter along, and when we reached
the hotel everything was taken. They
fixed the daughter up with cot in the
hall, and the urbane clerk offered Char
ley and I the soft side of a couple of
chairs i'll the office; but, you see, we had
been figuring on just such a situation,
and we thought we might get something
better. We didn't swear and try to cut
up rusty, but Charley stepped over and
set his sample case in chair near the
stove, around which everybody was
standing, then we lit our cigars and
waited for superior developments:
In minute, a little, nervous fellow,
who had been spreading his coat tails
before the stove, got too warm, and
looked for chair. The one with Char
ley's sample case in it was nearest, and
he reached out for the case to set it off
the chair. Well, he hadn't touched it
before Charley gave yell that would
have curdled the blood of q Sioux; he
jumped over everybody between him
and the case, and snatched it away from
the little fellow in a minute.
''My Lord! don't touch that" he
gasped at the man, as though he had
snatched him bodily from the jaws of
death. He lovingly set the case at his
feet, and while everybody in the room
was gawling at him 1 inquired in my
most innocently casual manner:
elbows the nitro-glycerine trade now,
Charley"
"First-rate," he answered. carelessly.
'EYou see it's no work to sell our goods.
The explosives we handle has one third
more power than those sold by any other
house, and we sell our goods at the
same figure the other houses do theirs.
all I've got to do is show the goods and
they sell themselves. / can just take
one of those cartridges out somewhere
and explode it-a man sees what it Will
do and the stuff is sold, if he wants any
thing in that line. It's a little disagree
able in this weather-have to go so far
away from everything to show the stuff
not much like boots and shoes, you
know"
H. Il
carry the stuff around" [ murmured
glancing at the sample case between
Charleys f, ct.
ooh, well, a fellow gets used to it, -
he said with the air of man who carries
his life in his hand. "Not so much
danger in cold weather-warmth ex-
pands it and then it is more liable to ex-
plode''-he reached down here and laid
his hand on the side next the stove.
"Greatest danger is from somebody
meddling with it. Our house never had
but one accident from q man on the
road. A man up in Montana had his
samples in caboose that was run into
by another train" Impressive silence
for a minute, then he went on in mildly
reminiscent way: "Never had to get
out wrecking gang to clear up that
wreck-they had to order out the bridge
gang to build culvert over the hole it
made.
Charley shook his head sadly, and the
little man who had attempted to move
that sample case edged up to the desk.
I followed him.
Come to think of it" he whispered
nervously to the clerk, 81 won't want
that room tonight. l guess I'll stay in
the train. I've got some things there ]
want to watch, you know"
The clerk assured him the trainmen
would look after them, but he wouldn't
have it that way-nothing would do but
he must go himself. / happened up be-
side them just then, and finding he was
bound to leave, took the room in the
most innocent way in the world
The clerk assigned me the room all
right, but he kept glazing over at Char
ley and his case full of internal machines
all the while, and the little man started
for the door.
He said he didn't think he could wait
for supper-it was so close in there it
made him sick, and he'd have to get
some air, he said The clerk tried to
detain him, but he hadn't time to talk
he bolted for the door and foundered
off through the drifts.
When Charley and I came from sup
per we could see war all around. The
guests were drawn up in battle array on
the side of the Office and the clerk head
en- them. He pulled his moustache a
minute to get his courage up, then he
flew at Charley. "Your friend can have
this room here, but you can't stay in
this house with that thing n min
ute longer, sir" he said.
Charley glanced down at the anathe-
mixed sample case.
"What's the matter with that9" he
asked, and, picking it up, he carried it
to the desk, lifted it as high as he could
and let it drop before the Mortified clerk
could interfere.
There wasn't any explosion, and when
Charley opened the case there was moth
ing more deadly displayed than a fine
line of tea and coffee samples-but we
had our bed that night.